The appetite for deep scams is growing among users of underground forums, raising fears that the technology could be used in extortion-based ransomware attacks. Deepfakes are AI-generated videos and images that transplant the face of another individual, traditionally a celebrity or politician, into a scene where they were not originally present. In recent years, deepfakes have been used primarily to spread fake news and create pornographic hoaxes, and have become increasingly convincing. According to a report from security firm Trend Micro, deepfake technology may soon be used to blackmail members of the public or staff into revealing sensitive information or paying large ransom fees.
deepfake ransomware
As part of a broader investigation into trends in cybercrime forums and underground markets, Trend Micro found that forum members were becoming increasingly interested in the ability to monetize counterfeit technology. According to the firm, users of the underground forum often discuss how AI could be used for "eWhoring" (or sextortion) and bypassing Face ID authentication, especially on dating sites. While sextortion attacks have traditionally relied on social engineering techniques to manipulate the victim into ransoming cryptocurrency, Trend Micro is concerned that the increasing sophistication of deepfakes will lead to reputation scams of this type. 'all the mightiest. “An actual image or video would not be necessary. It is more effective to blackmail people, because cybercriminals would not have to socially compromise someone in a compromising position," the report says. "The attacker starts with an incriminating Deepfake video, created from videos of the victim's face and samples of his voice collected from social networks. To put pressure on the victim, the attacker could start a countdown and include a link to a fake video... If the victim doesn't pay by the deadline, all contacts in their address book will receive the link." Based on Based on its analysis of underground communities, Trend Micro believes that the use of deepfakes for extortion-based ransomware should take off in the near future.Although attacks of this type have yet to be identified in the wild, it is believed that a variety of different demographics everyone could be at risk, from political candidates to top officials, celebrities and civilian teens.